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Ye & French Montana Sued Over Sample of Paparazzi Fight Video: ‘Don’t Take No Photos!’
Ye and French Montana face a new copyright infringement lawsuit centred on audio from a confrontational 2013 encounter between the rapper and paparazzi. The celebrity news agency Bauer-Griffin alleges that the duo, along with several producers and the label that released the track, incorporated sound from a widely publicised video into 'Where They At,' a song from French Montana's Mac & Cheese 5 album released in 2024. The disputed footage, captured outside a Beverly Hills restaurant and showing Ye confronting a photographer whilst shouting expletives, was allegedly incorporated into the song's intro without proper licensing, despite being recognisable to listeners and subject to existing copyright protections.
This represents another chapter in Ye's contentious history with unlicensed sampling claims. The artist has faced over a dozen similar lawsuits throughout his career, most recently losing a jury trial in May concerning an uncleared sample used in an early version of 'Hurricane.' The lawsuit underscores a recurring tension in hip-hop production, where sampling popular cultural moments has become common practice but remains legally fraught when proper rights are not secured. Bauer-Griffin asserts that industry standards regarding sound recording copyrights are well-established and widely known, making the alleged infringement a deliberate violation rather than an oversight.
In short
- Ye and French Montana sued by Bauer-Griffin for unlicensed audio sample from 2013 paparazzi fight video used in track 'Where They At'
- Agency claims sample was recognisable and used without required licensing or permission despite industry-standard requirements
- Latest in series of sampling-related lawsuits against Ye, who lost a similar jury trial in May over 'Hurricane'
Steelman: both sides, in good faith
The strongest fair case each way — we don't pick a winner.
The case for
The law regarding sound recording copyrights is well-established and widely known across the music industry, making this an intentional violation rather than oversight. Artists have clear responsibility to secure licensing before commercial release, particularly given the recognisable nature of the sample and the resources available to major artists. Copyright protection exists to ensure creators are fairly compensated, and strict enforcement maintains necessary industry standards.
The case against
Hip-hop fundamentally builds upon sampling and creative reuse of existing cultural material; overly rigid copyright enforcement chills the artistic innovation that defines the genre. The doctrine of fair use specifically permits transformative uses of existing works, and incorporating recognisable moments into new artistic compositions may constitute such transformation rather than simple copying. There is genuine tension between protecting intellectual property rights and enabling the creative remix practices central to hip-hop culture.
Explained simply
Sampling—the practice of taking snippets of existing audio to use in new songs—is common in hip-hop production but requires careful attention to copyright law. When artists incorporate audio from recorded material, they need to obtain permission from whoever owns the copyright. Without such permission, the original rights holder can claim copyright infringement.
A 2013 video showing rapper Ye confronting a photographer outside a restaurant in Beverly Hills became widely known after being recorded and circulated. The celebrity news agency Bauer-Griffin, which captured the footage, claims that Ye and French Montana incorporated recognisable audio from that video—including Ye's shouting—into the song 'Where They At' from French Montana's 2024 album Mac & Cheese 5. According to Bauer-Griffin's lawsuit, this was done without permission or proper licensing.
This lawsuit is one of numerous copyright claims Ye has faced over his career regarding samples used without proper permission. The pattern reflects a tension in hip-hop: whilst sampling cultural moments is an established creative practice, copyright law requires artists to secure permission from rights holders before using recorded material. Such cases often turn on whether the use was deliberate or inadvertent, and industry standards regarding sound recording rights are well established.
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